Gin-saw cleaner.



J. G. SHROPSHIRE.

GIN SAW CLEANER.

APP-LIOATION FILED JUN}: 26, 1911.

1,026,129. Patented May 14, 1912.

Fig.1.

IIIIIII v COLUMBIA PLANOGRAI'II cm. WASHINGTON u c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE G. SHROPSI-IIRE, 0F ANICE, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 C. MAYS, OF VISTA, ARKANSAS, AND ONE-FOURTH TO A. B. MoLAIN, 0F BRANCH, ARKANSAS.

GIN-SAW CLEANER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JESSE C. Srmorsrrmn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anice, in the county of Franklin and State of Arkansas, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Gin-Saw Cleaners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invent-ion has for its general object to provide a cleaning device, for the saws of a cotton gin, of such a character that when, in the operation of the gin, the saws become clogged with gummy matter they may be quickly and thoroughly cleaned to free them from such gummy matter, the cleaning knives being of such a character that they may perform their intended functions efficiently, and may be operated to cause them to perform such functions in a convenient manner.

The more particular objects of the invention, together with means whereby the same may be carried into effect, will best be understood from the following description of one form or embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It will be understood, however, that the construction described and shown has been chosen for illustrative purposes merely, and that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary View, in transverse vertical section through the gin, showing one of the saws and the corresponding cleaning device in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a view showing the saws and cleaners in elevation as the same would appear looking from the bottom of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a partly broken out view showing the parts as they would appear looking from the right, Fig. 1, the frame or casing parts being represented in section in both views. Fig.4 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the cleaning devices or knives detached. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatic, sectional views, taken substantially on the line 5-5, Fig. 1, illustrating the cotiperation of the knife with the saw when moved laterally into engagement therewith.

Referring to the drawings, 12 denotes the gin frame in which is journaled a shaft 13 Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 26, 1911.

Patented May 14, 1912. Serial No. 635,512.

carrying a suitable number of saws 14;.

'These parts may be of any usual or well known form. Mounted in brackets 15, se cured to the frame 12, and guided therein for limited movement in a direction paral-- lel to the shaft 13, is a slide 16 carrying a series of cleaning devices or knives 17 equal in number to the saws 141. Each cleaning device comprises a body port-ion 18 and a pair of blades 19 lying on opposite sides of the corresponding saw 14 and separated by a distance permitting both of said blades to be normally out of engagement with said saw. Movement of the slide 16 in opposite directions from its normal central position brings the blades 19 alternately into engage ment with the opposite lateral faces of the corresponding. saw. The saws are cleaned by rotating them in engagement with the blades of the cleaning knives, as will be clear to those skilled in the art.

The slide 16 is provided at one end with an arm 20 extending beyond the frame 12 and there pivoted to a lever 21 fulcrumed in a bracket or brackets 22 secured to said frame 12. 23 denotes a keeper also secured to said frame 12 or to a bracket mounted thereon and provided with a suitable number (preferably three) of notches each adapted to receive the lever 21. VVhen said lever is in the central notch the blades 19 of the cleaning devices 17 will all be out of engagement with the saws as shown in Figs. 2. 8, and 5. Movement of the lever 21 into either of the other notches will adjust the cleaning devices to clean one or the other side of each of the saws.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the particular form of the cleaning knives 17 one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 4E. The blades 19 are formed of resilient material, such as spring steel, and are therefore laterally flexible. Each blade is formed at its end adjacent the body portion 18 with a heel 2 1 and with an edge 25 beyond said heel. The surfaces of the blades of each pair are oppositely inclined. with respect to the plane of the body portion or with respect to the face of the corresponding saw. Longitudinally the blades of each pair are, generally speaking, parallel, but are slightly warped or twisted so that their backs are farther apart than their edges and are also bent to bring them relatively closer together at their heels 24 than at their ends away from the body portion 18, so that the edges 25 are inclined to the length of the blades. While therefore these blades, as above stated, are slightly warped or twisted, they are arranged bodily substantially in oppositely inclined or diverging planes, while their edges further diverge away from the body portion 18. In other words, the edges of the two blades of each cleaning knife 17 diverge from each other from their heel portions 24:, which are nearest the shanks or body portions 18, toward their points or outer ends. The blades 19 of each knife are separated from each other a distance considerably greater than the thick ness of a gin saw, so that the saws may freely rotate between the blades excepting when said blades are shifted laterally for the cleaning operations. Considering now the form of these knives in their relation to the gin saws, it will be seen that the blades 19, as above stated, are arranged bodily at an inclination to the faces of these saws, and that when a blade is moved laterally toward the corresponding saw the heel 2% will first be brought into engagement with the saw adjacent the periphery of the latter as shown in Fig. 6. At this time the edge 25 extending inwardly of the saw from the periphery thereof will lie at an inclination to the face of the saw and consequently remain out of contact therewith. As the lateral pressure between the blade and saw is increased however, the lateral flexibility of the blade will permit the heel portion thereof to yield so that the edge 25 is brought into engagement with'the face of the saw throughout an increasing portion of its length, the parts being then in substantially the position shown in Fig. 7 It will now be seen that, due to the resilience of the blades 19, the lateral pressure between the blade and saw is so distributed as to be greatest adjacent the periphery of the saw where the greatest work of cleaning is to be done. It will also be seen that by increasing or diminishing the pressure the saw may be cleaned for as great or as small a distance back from its periphery as may be necessary or desirable.

As hereinbefore indicated, the invention is not to be understood as being limited to the details herein shown and described, or to any particular arrangement of the cleaning devices or knives and their operating means relative to the saws; as any convenient arrangement of these parts which will permit the cleaning devices to perform their functions properly will be within the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A gin saw cleaning device comprising a slide or carrier which is laterally movable relative to the gin saws, combined with a series of cleaning knives attached to the said laterally movable slide or carrier, each of said knives comprising a body portion and two flexible cleaning blades which are normally separated from each other a distance greater than the thickness of a gin saw, said cleaning blades being twisted so that their backs diverge from their edges and being bent slightly so that their edges diverge from the body portions of the knives toward their outer ends.

2. A gin saw cleaning device comprising a slide or carrier which is laterally movable relative to the gin saws, combined with a series of cleaning knives attached to the said laterally movable slide or carrier, each of said knives comprising a body portion and two flexible cleaning blades which are normally separated from each other a distance greater than the thickness of a gin saw, said cleaning blades being twisted so that their backs diverge from their edges and being bent slightly so that their edges diverge from the body portions of the knives toward their outer ends, means for moving the said slide or carrier laterally, and means for retaining the said slide or carrier in different positions of lateral adjustment.

In testimony whereof I afilx my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JESSE C. SHROISHIRE. lVitnesses lViLLuir C. GAMMELT, \VILLIAM C. ELEM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

